SEWARD, Consul-General to Benj. P. Avery. United States, April 22, 1875

Mr. Seward to Mr. Avery.

Sir: I have the honor to inform you that I returned to Shanghai last evening from Chin-kiang, and to report the facts of the recent trouble at that port, and of the action which has been taken in view of it.

It appears that Mr. and Mrs. Colby were walking on a street of the English settlement, and that a lot of braves, ten or a dozen in number, followed them and used vile language toward or regarding Mrs. Colby. A Chinese policeman, who was patrolling in the neighborhood, thought it desirable to warn them to desist. This led to an altercation between the policeman and some of the braves, and he finally called to his assistance some Chinese of the foreign hongs, and with them arrested two of their number. Thereupon the other braves ran off and called together a considerable number of their comrades, perhaps fifty, who proceeded to the British consulate with the avowed object of releasing the prisoners who had been taken there by the policeman and the constable of the consulate.

Seeing the approach of the soldiers, followed by a large crowd of their country-people, Mr. Baber closed a gate on a public street in the rear of the consulate, thus cutting off the approach on that side. In front of this gate the soldiers stood, some urging that the gate should be broken in. It appears, however, that from the time when the gate was closed, being pressed back upon the crowd, until the end, no attempt was made to force it. During the twenty minutes or half hour that the crowd stood in front of the gate, a number of the foreign residents made their way through the crowd and entered the consulate, the gate being opened for them. Others, including Mr. and Mrs. Colby, came in by another gate. An officer of the corps to which the soldiers belonged also appeared, and used some exertions in the way of strong language and actual blows with his riding-stick, which resulted in dispersing the soldiers.

Mr. Baber and Mr. Colby wrote the Taotai after the occurrence, stating what had occurred, and asking him to secure the punishment of the offenders, both those who had been so troublesome to Mr. and Mrs. Colby and those who had made the demonstration before the consulate. The Taotai responded to this that the two men actually arrested and then in his hands had been dismissed from the service, and would be tried and punished. Further than this he made no promise, and it would appear that he did not feel able to make any, in view of the independent nature of the military branch.

By consent matters remained in this form until Mr. Medhurst and I arrived on Saturday, five days after the trouble. We at once proceeded, with Mr. Baber and Mr. Colby, to take the evidence of the police-officer, the constable of the British consulate, and a tide-waiter at the customs, who had seen a great deal of the disturbance. We also heard what Mr. Baber and Mr. Colby had to say. The substance of all this evidence I have given above, and it does not seem necessary to encumber this dispatch with copies of the actual statements.

Saturday afternoon Mr. Medhurst met the Taotai, and impressed upon him the need of his urging the military commandant to arrest a considerable number of the offending Chinese. The Taotai, as Mr. Medhurst has told me, did not express himself hope-fully in the matter, but appeared willing to do what he could.

My own task with the Taotai was easier than Mr. Medhurst’s, and I was able to secure from him promises—

• To try the two prisoners in my presence the next morning.
• To urge the commandant very warmly to arrest others of those who had used the vile language to Mr. and Mrs. Colby.
• To issue a proclamation setting forth the facts of the case, reprobating the conduct of the soldiers in suitable terms, and warning others against the commission of a like offense.

I reported this result to Mr. Medhurst, and asked him to be present at the trial and to urge against the same men the charge of resistance to a police-officer. This he thought well of and agreed to do.

The next morning we proceeded to the Taotai’s Yamen and watched the trial as conducted by the Che Hsien. The two men were sentenced to fifty blows each, and to be caugued in the street, where they had assailed Mr. and Mrs. Colby with vile language, for thirty days, their offense to be stated on the cangue.

An incident of the trial was the proposal of the Che Hsien to bamboo the prisoners to make them tell the names of their comrades. The two men were actually led out, thrown upon their faces, and their thighs stripped for the whipping, before we could make the Taotai understand that the use of torture to procure evidence is not sanctioned by our laws, and that we could not assent to such procedure.

So far as the punishment was concerned, the Taotai’s readiness to meet our representatives may be understood when I say that he was quite willing to administer one hundred blows to the prisoners, or even two hundred, if we thought it desirable. We took pains to indicate to him that we had no wish to be vindictive; and that it was the adequate punishment of a considerable number of persons, and not the cruel punishment of the two in question, that we desired.

After I had again impressed upon the Taotai the need of his calling upon the commandant to make further arrests in Mr. Colby’s case, and had told him that Mr. Medhurst had suggested the issue of one proclamation embracing the whole case, and that I assented to this, Mr. Medhurst urged upon the Taotai strongly the need of his appealing forcibly to the commandant to arrest and punish those soldiers who had made the demonstration at the consulate, and told him that unless he received word that this work was going on satisfactorily by the next evening, he would proceed to Nanking to state the case to the viceroy.

The business having been so far prosecuted, and my duties-here demanding my attention, I left for this place the same afternoon.

You will see that the newspaper reports of the case have been somewhat exaggerated, and you may consider that we showed quite as much vigor as the case required.

I do not think that more has been done or projected than the circumstances demanded. If the Chinese are allowed to use toward foreigners language of the vilest character, that prestige of the foreign name which is essential to the security of foreigners in the smaller ports will be more or less injured. To pass by a grave demonstration against a consular residence would be a still greater mistake. If Mr. Medhurst shall succeed in carrying the whole business to a satisfactory conclusion, the result will be one for which the residents of Chin-kiang may congratulate themselves, as promising to them a greater degree of security for a long while to come. And even if the soldiers are not further punished, which I cannot believe will be the case, good will come of the demonstration which has been made.

My co-operation with Mr. Medhurst was warm and hearty throughout, and that of Mr. Baber and Mr. Colby has been equally satisfactory. I should say that Mr. Baber’s coolness when his consulate was besieged is deserving of much appreciation, and that all his steps were carefully taken. Mr. Colby has shown excellent judgment throughout.

The further action needed to secure the results aimed at by me will be undertaken by him, and I have but little doubt he will succeed perfectly. He takes a quiet unbiased view of the business, and will insist upon such action as that contemplated in my conversations with the Taotai.

I have to express my gratification at the promptness with which Captain Bridgman, of the Palos, met my suggestion that he should show his flag at Chin-kiang.

I respectfully ask an expression of approval of my course, if it shall seem to you to have been judicious.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,